It's Sunday - my favourite day of the blogging week! It's time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players and this week the lovely Jaydee has a fun theme for us:

Use any die cut on your project - boy did I deliberate over this! I use die cuts all the time and my Big Shot is my crafting best friend, but what to share? I made several cards, all trying to showcase different aspects of dies and diecuts, but none of them were working for me; I think I was trying too hard! After much deliberating I decided to share a 3D project instead and since it's Easter Sunday today what better than an Easter basket made with the Berry Basket Bigz Die, along with some cute little tags all ready for today's Easter egg hunt:

The basket itself is really easy to make using the die: I made mine out of So Saffron cardstock with a Pink Pirouette trim and handle, and having stamped some eggs on the basket using my Subtles Stampin' Write markers, I finished my completed basket with a couple of pink bows punched from the Bow Builder punch and a stamped tag tied on with some Marina Mist chevron ribbon. I then used my Big Shot, Handpicked framelit dies and my Alphabet rotary stamp to make a whole bunch of tags ready to place around the garden for our Easter egg hunt today - here are just a selection:

I made them out of coaster board, so that they would be extra-strong and added coloured punched out arrows to some of them to add to the fun.

There are some great projects from the Design Team this week - do pop by their blogs and take a look:

I hope you like today's project - there are so many different dies to choose from, I can't wait to see what you come up with for your cards and projects in our gallery this week. I'm off to play Easter bunny and follow the James juniors around the garden collecting eggs, then attempt to persuade them to not eat them all before lunch! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Handpicked Framelits Dies	Berry Basket Bigz L Die	For Peeps' Sake Clear Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Bow Builder Punch
What's Up Punch	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Candy Dots Brad Bases	Subtles Candy Dots	Marina Mist 3/4" Chevron Ribbon
Vanilla Coaster Board	Alphabet Rotary Stamp	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock	So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Subtles A4 Card Stock

It's Good Friday already so I thought it was about time I shared with you some of the fun Easter projects that I've been making with my children and their friends in recent weeks. Both James Juniors love to craft and Rebecca especially likes the opportunity to spend some time in my craft room whenever she can. At the start of the Easter holidays, we had a big group of their friends round and spent a fun morning making these cute Easter treat boxes using one of my favourite products, the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlit Die:

I couldn't resist creating some Easter themed containers using this die, further to the popularity of my Christmas ones - you can see my tips on using this thinlit die in my Stampissimo video with Paula Gorry from Stampin' Up! here.

The girls made cute bunnies - I've seen lots of different versions floating around Pinterest, but for mine I decided to use my Flower Fair framelits to create the ears and the various pieces from my trusty Owl Builder punch for the face, along with some strands of split white jute ribbon for his whiskers and some added detail with a Smoky Slate marker and my white gel pen.

The boys made these cute Easter chicks:

The boys were slightly younger, so we went with something a little less complicated with less small pieces required for the face.

In addition, everyone also made a little Easter bag, inspired by this one created by Brian King and using this fabulous little tutorial by Val Moody to create the basic bag shape:

We kept things simple with some tone-on-tone stamping using the 'For Peep's Sake' Easter-themed stamp set and a little tag made with the handpicked framelits. These little bags are so easy to make and the perfect size for your mini Easter eggs. Everyone chose their own colours - here's a couple of pictures I took on the day of some of the children's finished projects:

Not many 'action' photos I'm afraid - just too much going on. It was a busy few hours of crafting with 16 children taking part, but they were all so well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed making some great treat boxes to take home. I have another easy Easter-themed project to share with you tomorrow, so do pop back then if you're in need of some last minute Easter inspiration. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

For the rabbit box:

Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Owl Punch	Flower Fair Framelits Die	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock
Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen	Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Marker	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon	Basic Black A4 Card Stock

For the chick box:

Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Owl Punch	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Large Oval Punch	Bone Folder

For the Mini Egg Bag:

Fry Box Bigz L Die	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Large Oval Punch	Bone Folder
For Peeps' Sake Clear Stamp Set	Handpicked Framelits Dies	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad	So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad
Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

Well, what a Sale-A-Bration this has been! I have enjoyed it immensely - some of the best free products we've seen as part of this promotion and I would like to thank everyone who has shopped with me, hosted a party or joined my team during the last 3 months. Today I wanted to share some little packages I made last month for my recent Stampers Six Club customers and new recruits using the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I've had to make quite a few of these so I was glad to be able to make good use of some of the fabulous Best Year Ever paper I earned free during Sale-A-Bration:

These treat bags are so easy to make and come with a range of fun thinlit pieces that can be used to decorate them or embellish cards or other projects. I kept these quite simple, with a layered panel on the front in co-ordinating cardstock and added some Calypso Coral pompom trim to the decoration with a mini peg to hold the bags shut - here's a close-up:

Whilst the paper may no longer be available, the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies are in the seasonal catalogue and still available until 2nd June and there are a whole bunch of other DSPs available that would look just as good. These bags really are so cute and it's easy to make lots of these in no time at all; they would make great party bag favours too. 

That's me done for today; back tomorrow with a fun card and news of a new set of Wednesday Weekly Deals. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies	Calypso Coral Pompom Trim `	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Mini Metallic Clothespins	Fuse Fast Adhesive
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana

Happy Monday everyone! No card today - I'm sharing a little 3D project for a change. Last week I was booked to craft with a local Brownie pack to help them make gifts for Mother's Day. I know a few of the Brownies - and mums! - so couldn't share our little project until today, for fear of letting their secret out of the bag. Now we all know that with a special gift it's as much about the packaging as what's inside, so this is what our gifts looked like from the outside:

Each girl had one of the Tiny Treat Boxes to decorate with papers from the All Aboom DSP stack - so pretty for spring - and one covered, each box was finished with a colour-co-ordinated bow made using the Bow Builder punch. We had great fun making these - and used hundreds of glue dots in the process!! Inside the box, it opened to reveal:

Each of them made a delicate silver necklace using one of the Simply Borrowed Embellishments for decoration, beautifully presented on a co-ordinated cardstock insert. How pretty is that? The girls were so pleased with their handiwork and all smuggled them home to keep them as a surprise until yesterday. I had lots of messages from mums today who were thrilled with their gifts, so I think we can safely say it was a job well done!

I love crafting with children, whether my own, when running children's birthday parties or in larger groups such as this. If you live in or around Northampton and would like more information about children's parties or running a Crafty Owl activity for a larger group such as a Brownie or Girl Guide group, then do get in touch - I would love to discuss options with you.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a card for you. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bow Builder Punch	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Tiny Treat Boxes	Something Borrowed Embellishments	Mini Glue Dots
Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	So Saffron A4 Card Stock

Yay it's Friday! It's been a long week and I'm glad the weekend is finally here. As it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, both James Juniors were keen to take some sweet treats into school to share with their class mates. I found these lovely heart-shaped jelly beans, that fitted perfectly into the thin cello bags:

This is just the first few - production became quite intense at one point and included boy- and girl themed packaging. You can see pictures of the total effort over on my Facebook page. These pretty pink ones were of course headed in the direction of the young ladies; we were stamping the tab top from the 'Hey, Valentine' set in a variety of pinks and colouring in with Blendabilities. Here's a close-up:

I definitely like the Melon Mambo one best (I'm such a 'brights' girl at heart) but they all look cute, especially with the addition of a heart-shaped Hodgepodge clip too. This little bag topper is a perfect fit for these cello bags and will work just as well at any other time of year too, not just Valentines. I also made a batch for a children's birthday party that I am hosting tomorrow afternoon, in pinks and purples. Our cello bags are great value at 50 for £2.25 and make such a nice way to create beautifully decorated party favours.

I'm told that the treats were well received by everyone which is nice to know and provided the perfect start to our forthcoming week-long half-term break.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hey, Valentine Clear Stamp Set	1" X 8" Cellophane Bag	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Melon Mambo Assortment	Pink Pirouette Assortment Stampin' Blendabilities Markers	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Basics Hodgepodge Clips

Given that today is all about the start of Sale-A-Bration and the launch of the new Spring-Summer catalogue, today's card had to celebrate that! You can read the full scoop on my previous post here, but right now I'm sharing a card made with 2 of the 3 co-ordinating products that can be yours free with each £45 purchase and a new punch from the Spring-Summer catalogue that is sure to be a hit! I used the sketch layout over at As You See It for my card today:

Here is my rather 3-dimensional card today - check out those bows:

A simple card base of Sahara Sand, stamped with the 'Best Day Ever' stamp from the stamp set of the same name (the hearts are also from the same set) and decorated with some ribbons from the 'Best Year Ever' accessories pack. Instead of tying bows with this lovely silky ribbon, I decided to finish this otherwise simple card with some overstated punched bows, made using the new Bow Builder punch - how cute are they?! These are just perfect for decorating little treat boxes and gifts and are made in a jiffy - check out this video from Stampin' Up! that shows you just how easy they are to make:

How clever and easy is that?! I can see us all getting through a whole bunch of glue dots with these - don't forget to add those to your order!!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Best Day Ever Photopolymer Stamp Set	Best Year Ever Accessory Pack	Bow Builder Punch	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock
Mini Glue Dots

Merry Christmas to you all, my lovely blog readers! After a welcome few days break hosting Christmas for my family, today I'm back to the blog! I have a couple of pre-Christmas makes to share still; do you ever find yourself so busy crafting in the run up to the big day that you spend more time 'in the moment' rather than recording it and sharing? Well, this year that was definitely me! Today I am being treated to a day of rest - my seven year old has declared that he is doing the cooking today, from his new boy's cookbook (doing well so far - fresh fruit and pancakes for breakfast, followed by shepherd's pie for lunch) - so whilst he prepares a feast of chicken dippers for tea, I thought I would take the opportunity to get back into my blog. 

Today's share is some lovely gift packaging made with the Gift Box Punch Board, Envelope Punch Board and the Big Shot and Banner Framelits. I decorated some gifts using boxes made with the gorgeous Under the Tree speciality DSP and the Gift Box Punch board and some easy die cut tags to co-ordinate:

If your gift fits the standard boxes that the Gift Box Punch Board makes, it is a quick and easy 'no glue' packaging solution. With some ribbon and a fancy tag they really look the part:

I also made some bottle tags using the Banner framelits and a circle punch, again decorating with some simple wreaths cut with the Wonderful Wreath framelits - here's a close up:

As my regular readers will know, I am a big fan of the Envelope Punch Board and it is still my tool of choice for creating custom boxes - this is so easy to do with my BoxBuster tool - it enables you to create the perfect box size first time with no paper wastage. Here's one I made for my niece's Christmas gift that is the perfect case in point, this time finished with a tag made with the tree punch to co-ordinate with the Under The Tree paper:

If you are a fan of creating easy, attractive gift packaging, you will be pleased to know that the Gift Box Punch Board is carrying over and will still be available when the current Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue ends. The Envelope Punch Board is always available as a standard annual catalogue item - phew, I don't know what I'd do if this tool was ever discontinued!

Back tomorrow with another of my pre-Christmas makes and a special announcement, so check back then for more crafting lovliness!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Gift Box Punch Board	Envelope Punch Board	Banners Framelits Dies	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch
Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Tree Punch	Gold Glimmer Paper
Red Glimmer Paper	Real Red A4 Card Stock

Sunday already?! Where are the days going??! I have been busy with my Christmas preparations and my focus has been on gift packaging these last few days, along with a few special Christmas cards. Most are going out of the door before they are even photographed though! Today I wanted to do a quick post to share a snowflake paper wreath that I made recently for a friend of mine:

It uses a whole bunch of retired product - the paper is from a couple of years ago (I can't even remember what it was called) and is decorated with snowflakes made from stamping Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green on Very Vanilla carstock using the Festive Flurry stamp set, that I then cut out using the Big Shot and co-ordinating framelits and finished with a paper bow made using my Gift Bow Bigz Die. 

My friend specifically wanted this paper pattern as she wanted her wreath to co-ordinate with other festive pieces she had - as such I had to include a few pieces of solid colour cardstock just to enable me to get all the way around the wreath base; I am now officially out of this DSP pattern! I am going to make another of these wreath types at some point as I think it's really effective, although will probably choose a more traditional blue/silver colour scheme with my snowflakes. It was also quite easy to achieve: about 22 strips of DSP measuring 12" x 1 1/4", adhered to a styrofoam wreath and then the ends flagged.

That's all from me today - back soon with another project when time allows. Until then, happy stampin!

It's Sunday and time for my Design Team post over at The Paper Players - and my last one, as my 6 month post has come to an end, boo hoo! These ladies have been an awesome bunch of people to work with and are a source of immense talent and inspiration. I shall miss designing with them, but will of course continue to play along with their weekly challenges.

This week Nance has a great challenge for us, to see out the end of the year in style - it is a 'black tie' challenge, to showcase holiday projects that are fancy:

I am sharing a rather different project today, which is not Christmas-specific but was designed using the Holiday Home stamp set and co-ordinating framelits from the Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and would make a lovely Christmas present to celebrate each and every season. Judging by the time it took me to complete it, I think it definitely qualifies as fancy! I made a 3D frame with a house for each month of the year, each one celebrating the seasons and events relevant to each month.

Here is my completed frame:

Each month is a little mini piece of artwork all by itself, with everything from a snowman and the winter snow to the shamrocks for St Patricks Day, summer sunshine and holiday aeroplanes to the autumn apple harvest, Halloween pumpkins and Santa and his reindeer and lots more in between. Each section uses a variety of papers, ribbons, embossing and colouring - far too many to list! If you have specific questions on any of the rectangles, please leave a comment below or drop me an email and I will be happy to provide further detail.

I hope you like my final Paper Players Design Team project; hop on over to the challenge blog to see what the others have come up with this week - as always there are some amazing projects! Do continue to visit and see what I come up with for future challenges as a participant and to the rest of the lovely Paper Players team and other guest designers, thanks a bunch ladies - you are all awesome and it's been a real pleasure working with you!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holiday Home Photopolymer Bundle

Today I thought I would share with you the Christmas star wreath I made at my class yesterday. I used the All is Calm Speciality Designer Series Paper for my version, which looks like this:

I layered a circle of Lost Lagoon flat stars, cut out with my Stars framelits, onto my wreath base, then cut 12 stars out of the All Is Calm Speciality DSP for the 3D stars. Each of these stars was scored from the point to the opposite side then pinched together to create the dimension and once glued to the wreath base, finished with a selction of Brights, Neutrals, Subtles and silver buttons:

To finish, a length of the luxurious In-Colour Lost Lagoon satin ribbon to create a bow and hanging loop:

You can see another example of this wreath made with the Under The Tree Speciality DSP over on my Facebook page - it looks lovely in the kraft and more traditional, red, greens and browns, so do check it out. I have another of these classes next week where the ladies will be making them using other papers of their choice.

I hope you like today's project; this is going to be my indoor wreath as it matches my dining room colours perfectly; I have another two wreaths to share with you in coming weeks, so if home decor is your thing, keep an eye out for the other versions!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Stars Framelits Dies	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Lost Lagoon 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon	Simply Scored	Mini Glue Dots	Basic Metal Buttons	Brights Designer Buttons
Subtles Designer Buttons	Neutrals Designer Buttons